$184,000 In Donations On Hold After Inquiries Into Homeless Student’s Story

There appears to be trust issues between the student and the woman who launched the GoFundMe campaign.

A heartwarming story about a homeless student is now raising eyebrows. Casey Blaney, the Barnesville, Georgia, woman who launched a GoFundMe campaign for Fred Barley, now has “multiple questions” about Barley’s story, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports.

The fund-raising campaign reached $184,000 in less than two weeks. But the funds are frozen because Blaney’s doubts led GoFundMe officials to launch an investigation. The online site will refund the donations if those questions are not answered.

Not So Fast! Story of Homeless College Student Fred Barley Being INVESTIGATED After $184,000 Raised on His Behalf https://t.co/0IxvOIB209

When we first learned about Barley, his determination to overcome his disadvantages to get a college education was inspiring.

According to reports, Barley said he carried everything he owned in bags and rode his little brother’s bicycle 50 miles, a six-hour trek, to reach Gordon State College in Barnesville, where he would start his second semester as a biology major.

He set up a tent on campus, and had just two boxes of cereal and two bottles of water. When the campus police came to investigate, Barley, 19, told them that he was homeless and planned to live in the tent until it time to register and move into the dorm.

Touched by the story, the police officers spent their own money to put Barley in a hotel for a few nights. Soon, word spread through social media and news reports about Barley’s situation were aired.

Blaney took the extra step of starting the GoFundMe campaign for the student, which received about 5,700 donations over 12 days. But some mistrust appears to have developed between them.

The AJC reported that their relationship became strained when Barley objected on Facebook to Blaney’s plan to place the funds in a trust. Barley said he would go along with her plan only if he could choose the attorney and trustee.

After seeing that post, Blaney wrote on Facebook that there are “conflicting” pieces to the student’s story.